〜がする: Describing Smells, Sounds, and Senses
A sense that arrives on its own
〜がする is how Japanese describes a sensation that you notice — a smell, a sound, a taste, or a bodily or mental feeling. The thing you sense is marked with が, and する here doesn't mean "to do." Instead it means roughly "occurs" or "is sensed", so においがする literally reads "a smell occurs" — i.e. there's a smell. You are not performing anything; the sensation shows up and you register it.
台所からいいにおいがする。
だいどころから いい においが する。
There's a nice smell coming from the kitchen.
外で変な音がする。
そとで へんな おとが する。
There's a strange sound outside.
このスープは少し甘い味がする。
この スープは すこし あまい あじが する。
This soup tastes a little sweet.
味がする = has a taste, tastes ~.
The closed circle of nouns it accepts
This is a fixed set. You can't attach がする to just any noun; it works with words for the five senses and a handful of feelings. Most of everyday 〜がする lives in just a few pairings, so it pays to learn them as set phrases:
| Form | Core idea | Example |
|---|---|---|
| においがする | there's a smell | いいにおいがする = it smells nice |
| 音がする | there's a sound | 音がする = there's a sound |
| 味がする | it tastes ~ | 苦い味がする = it tastes bitter |
| 寒気がする | I feel a chill | 寒気がする = I'm getting the chills |
| 気がする | I have a feeling / it seems | 忘れた気がする = I feel like I forgot something |
Note that 寒気 ("chill") and 吐き気 ("nausea") describe how your body feels, while 気がする describes how your mind feels. Reach outside this circle and it breaks: 雨がする is wrong — rain doesn't get "sensed" this way, it falls (雨が降る).
Moving it through the tenses
Once you have a sense noun marked with が, the する conjugates exactly as usual. The noun almost always carries a describing word too: いいにおい (a nice smell), 変な音 (a strange sound), 甘い味 (a sweet taste).
| Tense / form | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present (plain) | 〜がする | 音がする (there's a sound) |
| Present (polite) | 〜がします | においがします |
| Past (plain) | 〜がした | 変な音がした (there was a strange sound) |
| Past (polite) | 〜がしました | いいにおいがしました |
| Negative | 〜がしない | 何も味がしない (it has no taste) |
The three classic senses at work
Smell, sound, and taste all slot into the identical frame — only the noun and the tense change:
ヤッタンは焼き肉のにおいがすると、すぐ走ってくる。
ヤッタンは やきにくの においが すると、すぐ はしって くる。
When there's a smell of grilled meat, Yattan comes running right away.
モチ、今ドアの方で音がしなかった？
モチ、いま ドアの ほうで おとが しなかった？
Mochi, didn't a sound just come from the door?
しなかった = the negative past of する.
先生が作ったお茶は、変な味がした。
せんせいが つくった おちゃは、へんな あじが した。
The tea the teacher made tasted strange.
味がした = past tense, 'tasted.'
When the sensation is inside you
がする also reaches into how you feel — physically and mentally. Physical states like 寒気 sit right beside the sensory nouns, while 気がする lets you plant a hunch onto a whole clause, much like the softer "it seems" of 〜ようだ:
ヤッタンの弟は朝から寒気がするらしい。
ヤッタンの おとうとは あさから さむけが する らしい。
Yattan's little brother seems to have had chills since this morning.
この問題、前にも見た気がする。
この もんだい、まえにも みた きが する。
I have a feeling I've seen this problem before.
〜た + 気がする = 'I feel like I (did) ~.'
Where learners slip
- Using を instead of が. The sense is the subject, so it takes が: においがする (✓), not においをする (✗). This is the single biggest error — がする is not the "do" する.
- Treating it as "to do." This する means to be sensed / occur. 音がする is "there's a sound," not "I do a sound." Don't read it as an action you perform.
- Attaching がする to any noun. It only works with sense and feeling nouns (におい・音・味・寒気・気 and a few more). 雨がする (✗) is wrong — use 雨が降る.
- Forgetting the past form. A sound you heard is past: 変な音がした (✓), not 変な音がする when the event is over.
Boiled down
- A sense noun + が + する = that sense is there / is perceived.
- Core set: におい (smell), 音 (sound), 味 (taste), 寒気 (chill), 気 (feeling).
- This する means "to occur / be sensed," different from する "to do."
- Past is 〜がした (変な音がした); negative is 〜がしない.
- The sense always takes が — never を.
Practice it
Choose the right sense noun + がする for each situation.
＿＿＿に入れるのに最もよいものを選びなさい。
Choose the grammar pattern that best completes the sentence.
おいしい味＿＿＿。
Frequently asked questions
Why does 〜がする use が and not を?
Because the sense itself is the subject — it is sensed, not done. においがする means 'a smell occurs/exists,' so the smell takes が. におい'を'する is a common beginner error.
Is this the same する as 'to do'?
No. In がする, する means 'to occur' or 'to be sensed.' 音がする is 'there's a sound,' not 'I make a sound.' It's an intransitive use that only appears with sense and feeling nouns.
Which nouns can take がする?
A limited set: におい (smell), 音 (sound), 声 (voice), 味 (taste), 寒気 (chill), 吐き気 (nausea), 気 (feeling/hunch), and a few similar perception words. You can't use it with arbitrary nouns.
How is 気がする different from ようだ?
気がする is a personal hunch — 'I have a feeling,' often softer and more subjective. ようだ states an inference based on evidence. They overlap, but 気がする feels more like 'something tells me…'.
Where 〜がする fits
Don't confuse it with
- 〜にする · N5 — 〜にする means to decide on or choose something (コーヒーにします = I'll have coffee) and to deliberately make X a certain way (静かにする). Learn the pattern and how it differs from なる.
- 〜ようだ · N4 — 〜ようだ states a conjecture from your own evidence ('it seems') and, as 〜ように / 〜ような, draws comparisons ('like'). Learn the attachment rules and how it differs from みたい and らしい.
- 〜らしい · N4 — らしい has two jobs: hearsay/inference from solid info ('apparently it'll rain') and a 'typical of / -like' suffix (男らしい = manly). Learn formation and how it differs from そうだ and ようだ.
More N4 grammar to explore
Keep going with related patterns at the same level:
- 〜じゃないか / 〜じゃない — 〜じゃないか / 〜じゃない seeks agreement or shows surprise — 'isn't it?', 'right?', 'see, I told you!'. Learn the tone that flips it from negation to confirmation, plus polite 〜じゃないですか.
- 〜かどうか — 〜かどうか packs a yes/no question inside a bigger sentence: 来るかどうか分からない ('I don't know whether he'll come'). Learn the formation, noun and な-adjective rules, and how it differs from question-word + か.
- かな・かしら・かい — かな means 'I wonder' (to yourself), かしら is its softer, traditionally feminine twin, and かい is a friendly casual yes/no question. Learn the nuances, register, and 〜ないかな ('I hope…').
- 〜方 — Add 方 (かた) to a verb's ます-stem to make a noun meaning 'how to do' or 'the way of doing': 作り方 (how to make), 使い方 (how to use), 読み方 (reading).
- 〜ことになる — 〜ことになる means a decision was made by circumstances or others: 転勤することになった. Learn the formation, the modest 'it turns out' nuance, and 〜ことになっている for rules.
- 〜ことにする — 〜ことにする expresses a decision you make by your own will: 毎日運動することにした ('I've decided to exercise every day'). Learn the formation, the negative, and the habit form ことにしている.